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Race Against Dementia Dyson Fellowship

The James Dyson Foundation is funding a £500,000 research Fellowship in partnership with the former F1 driver Jackie Stewart’s charity, Race Against Dementia (RAD).

The James Dyson Foundation is funding a £500,000 research Fellowship in partnership with the former F1 driver Jackie Stewart’s charity, Race Against Dementia (RAD). The Fellowship brings together engineering industry and medical research to explore how technology can accelerate breakthroughs.

Dyson Fellow Dr. Claire Durrant’s research investigates the role of tau, a key protein implicated in both frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr Durrant is investigating the role of tau in keeping synapses – the connections between brain cells – healthy and how these change during the disease.

As part of this research Dyson engineers are helping Dr. Durrant analyse brain samples on a microscopic level, using in-house equipment and expertise at Dyson’s labs in Malmesbury, Wiltshire - the approach usually used for battery research. This is an example of how engineers can collaborate with researchers to advance their work.

Watch video about the Fellowship